Studying the Bible (c) - Unlimited In Christ

Studying the Bible.

1: 8 Let the words from the book of the law be always on your lips. Meditate on them day and night so that you may be careful to live by all that is written in it. If you do, as you make your way through this world, you will prosper and always find success.

Didn’t our hearts burn with the flames of holy passion while we walked beside him?

Luke 24:27-32 And beginning with Moses and all the prophets he carefully unveiled to them the revelation of himself throughout the Scriptures. 28As they approached the village, Jesus walked on ahead, telling them he was going on to a distant place. 29They urged him to remain there with them and pleaded, “Stay with us. It will be dark soon.” So, Jesus went with them into the village. Joining them at the table for supper, he took bread and blessed it and broke it, then gave it to them. 31 All at once their eyes were opened and they realized he was Jesus! Then suddenly, in a flash, Jesus vanished from before their eyes! 32Stunned, they looked at each other and said, “Why didn’t we recognize him? Didn’t our hearts burn with the flames of holy passion while we walked beside him? He unveiled for us such profound revelation from the Scriptures!”

For the past two or so weeks we have been gathering around how to commune with God in His word. God exhorts Joshua during his commissioning/ inauguration as Moses’ successor telling him Joshua 1: 8-9 Let the words from the book of the law be always on your lips. Meditate on them day and night so that you may be careful to live by all that is written in it. If you do, as you make your way through this world, you will prosper and always find success. 9 This is My command: be strong and courageous. Never be afraid or discouraged because I am your God, the Eternal One, and I will remain with you wherever you go.

We learned that Scripture only affirms the Authenticity, Accuracy and Authority of the Bible as the Standard for Truth.

Here we see Israel during a season of transition- change of leadership- advance of another phase of Divine purpose . God is pointing Joshua to His Word!
Numbers 27:18-23 Eternal One (to Moses): Single out Joshua (Nun’s son). In him is the breath of My Spirit. Before the whole congregation, bring him to stand before the priest, Eleazar. Put your hand on him, and commission him into leadership. 20 You should make clear that you are investing him with some of your authority, so that every Israelite accepts his leadership. 21 Joshua shall consult with Eleazar the priest, who will ask of Me (by consulting the Urim and Thummim) to show how they should proceed. In other words, Eleazar will consult the oracle and indicate when the people should go forward and when they should pull back, both he and the congregation of Israel. Moses did with Joshua and Eleazar exactly what the Eternal One instructed; he laid his hands on Joshua to indicate this transfer of authority. Just as the Eternal One commanded, Moses did.

We discovered couple things on how to study and approach the Bible. We learned that Scripture only affirms the Authenticity, Accuracy and Authority of the Bible as the Standard for Truth. We the church are the pillar and ground of truth by becoming the Word- The Word became a human being – a principle that I really want etched in my heart and in your own. Truth for us is a Person – Jesus Christ the Messiah who dwells in us by faith. We should approach our meditation from a foundation of love, our bible study is not mechanical, we are seeing God saying in Joshua is the Breath of His Spirit – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 God has transmitted His very substance into every Scripture, for it is God-breathed. It will empower you by its instruction and correction, giving you the strength to take the right direction and lead you deeper into the path of godliness. 17 Then you will be God’s servant, fully mature and perfectly prepared to fulfill any assignment God gives you.

We discovered that Love is central to the study of God's Word.

We discovered that Love is central to the study of God’s Word. Our study is RELATIONSHIP not mechanical or a task we have to do and fulfill a requirement. The Word is alive, interactive , We encounter God in His Word. In His light we see light.
For a little bit of fun let us talk about the word “Inaugurate” Deuteronomy 31:23 Then He inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with you.”
So, Joshua is being inaugurated , basically he is taking on the role of advancing the eternal plan of God, we discover that the words or God are the primary means of accomplishing his role of leading Israel into the promised land. Genesis 1 and John chapter 1 comes to mind as I reflect on God’s commissioning of Joshua.

Genesis 1:1-3 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Breath of God is our life and that is we are learning how to honor our moments of meditation, fellowship, studying

It is becoming very clear that the Word- The written Word- The Breath of God is our life and that is we are learning how to honor our moments of meditation, fellowship, studying , Holy Spirit help us so communing with You will be ongoing never stopping inside of us. As we read Joshua 1, we are receiving command , order, and instructions. We are being entrusted with the will of God. The first interaction in my opinion of the day should be in the word/bible. Why you may ask- because we are God’s chosen treasure —priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called us out of darkness to experience His marvelous light, and now He claims you as His very own. He did this so that we would broadcast His glorious wonders throughout the world. We are God’s instruments to do His work and speak out for Him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference He made for us—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. To fulfil the declared intent of God we must not let the Book of Law depart from us, we must ponder on it and practice everything written in it. That is the only way we can be assured of getting to the Finish of All things. The expectation of the just shall not be cut short. Below are couple of things we should be expecting when we meditate and study the Bible :

Expect God to speak to us. Deuteronomy 32:1-2 Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; hear, you earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.

2 Corinthians 3:4-6 We couldn’t be more sure of ourselves in this—that you, written by Christ himself for God, are our letter of recommendation. We wouldn’t think of writing this kind of letter about ourselves. Only God can write such a letter. His letter authorizes us to help carry out this new plan of action. The plan wasn’t written out with ink on paper, with pages and pages of legal footnotes, killing your spirit. It’s written with Spirit on spirit, his life on our lives! I really want to emphasize that we are not studying something on our tablets, phone , or book – Faith comes by hearing- we should be expecting living communion with God in our study time.